Singapore stocks open slightly lower on Thursday; STI down 0.1%

SINGAPORE shares opened slightly lower on Thursday in muted trading, after Wall Street closed mixed overnight.

The Straits Times Index (STI) dipped marginally by 0.09 point to 3,195.67 as at 9.01am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 71 to 56, after 55.8 million securities worth S$39.7 million changed hands.

Jiutian Chemical was the most actively traded counter at market open, with 12.9 million shares changing hands as at 9.01am. The counter fell 4.4 per cent or 0.4 Singapore cent to 8.6 cents.

Among index counters, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding saw brisk trading, with 2.4 million shares worth S$3.1 million traded at the open. However, the stock was flat at S$1.31.

Meanwhile, FJ Benjamin was also heavily traded, with some 12 million shares changing hands. The mainboard-listed apparel retailer was trading 21.2 per cent or 0.4 Singapore cent higher at 4.2 cents.

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The trio of local banks were mixed in early trade. As at 9.01am, DBS was down 0.2 per cent or S$0.07 at S$28.76, OCBC slipped 0.1 per cent or S$0.01 to S$11.83, but UOB rose 0.2 per cent or S$0.05 to S$26.06.

Over on Wall Street, markets closed mixed on Wednesday. The broad-based S&P 500 made its 18th record close of the year, rising 0.2 per cent to 4,079.95. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1 per cent to 33,446.26, but the tech-rich Nasdaq dipped 0.1 per cent to 13,688.84.

European shares finished near Tuesday's record high, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 losing 0.1 per cent, ending just below the record closing peak of 435.26 points on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened lower on Thursday as investors sidestepped active trading on a lack of fresh cues. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.4 per cent or 123.50 points to 29,605.22 in early trade, while the broader Topix index fell 0.5 per cent or 8.81 points to 1,958.62.